What It’s Like to Write for a Digital Marketing Agency

Since I became a copywriter, I have written for my own clients and for digital marketing agencies. Each arrangement has its pros and cons, but my preference at this point in my life is to write for digital marketing agencies.

What is a digital marketing agency?

A digital marketing agency takes care of a company’s online presence. They come up with a plan to create effective internet ads, website content that turns leads into customers, and engaging social media profiles. A digital marketer knows SEO and keeps up with the latest online trends. A digital marketing agency could be just one person, a team of people, or a large organization.

What does a copywriter write for a digital marketing agency?

A big part of writing for a digital marketing agency is writing blog posts for business websites. Blog posts are a type of content marketing. Content marketing is any writing that sets up the business as an expert in their space and allows them to give free information to build a trust relationship with potential customers. Blogs are the perfect place for a business to do this online, but this could also include newsletters or even social media posts. Email marketing can be content marketing as well.

What it is like to write for a digital marketing agency?

Each digital marketing company works a little differently, but for the most part, I am given a blog topic to write for a particular business website. Then I research the business and get to know their voice and how they are trying to help the reader. Are they formal and informative? Or friendly and fun? What life problem for the reader is the company trying to solve?

Then I research the assigned blog topic on reputable websites and write the blog post according to the instructions given to me. Some companies want 300-500 words. Others want 1,200 words or more. Some digital marketing agencies supply me with a complete outline of the blog post including keywords and how many times each should be included. Some provide reliable resources for information on the topic which means all I need to do is write. Other agencies simply tell me to write a blog post for a particular website and I have the freedom to choose the topic and the keywords. Depending on the business, this could be fun or frustrating.

By far, blog posts are the most popular type of content marketing writing assignments, but I have also written emails and social media posts as well. If you are going to write for a digital marketing agency, it’s a good idea to have multiple skills or at least be willing to learn new skills. A good place to start learning the basics is Digital Marketing for Dummies by Ryan Deiss and Russ Henneberry.

Pros and Cons of Writing for a Digital Marketing Agency

You don’t have to talk directly to the client. Talking to the client and figuring out what they want and need takes time. Some clients are hard to get a hold of. Others communicate through massive brain dumps that you have to sift through and organize. Being the writer means the digital marketer has the responsibility of organizing the assignment before you begin your work.

The downside of not talking directly with the client is when you have a question or need a clarification. Then you are forced to play whisper down the lane to get answers. That also takes time and information could get lost along the way.

The client doesn’t know who is doing the writing. From the client’s perspective you are an anonymous writer on a digital marketing team. Even if your blog post is well-written and has a great response, you will not be revealed as the author. You will not build publishing credits under your own name. When you write for a digital marketing agency, there is no quest for personal glory. Any win for the client is a win for the whole team and you have to be okay with that.

Your writing can have maximize impact for the client. Unless you understand SEO, keywords, and the whole digital marketing picture, you will not have the knowledge necessary to make your writing the most effective it can be for the client. If you write with a digital marketing agency, trust and follow the instructions of the digital marketer so your writing can have maximum impact. If you ever want to have your own clients or if you simply want to grow as a copywriter, you will have to know more than just effective writing. Watch with curiosity how a digital marketer structures your writing assignments. If you are writing for your own clients, you won’t have this insightful input.

You don’t get to pick what to write. This varies from digital marketer to digital marketer. With one digital marketer, I have regular clients for whom I write month after month. Since I know the clients and what has been written already, I have a lot of freedom in choosing blog topics. For other digital marketing agencies, I have no say at all and simply work on assignments as they are given.

Invoicing is simple. With your own clients, you need to invoice each one and keep track of who paid and chase down those who didn’t pay. If you write for a digital marketing agency, you can write out one invoice to the marketer with all of your writing and know you will be paid. All the digital marketers I have written for have been well-organized with payments and paid a fair rate, on time, without any problems.

If you are getting started as a copywriter or looking to expand your copywriting opportunities, seek out a digital marketing agency to partner with. You’ll gain guided experience that you can use for future clients whether you get clients on your own or through other digital marketers.

Are you a digital marketer? What advantages are there to having a copywriter on your team? Are you a copywriter who writes for a digital marketer? What pros and cons have you had in your copywriting experience?

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife, mom of four, and a copywriter. She also helps Christians find the simple truths in the complex parts of the Bible at readthehardparts.com. Her other writings and publishing credits can be found on rachelschmoyerwrites.com.